Catalog: Silver: Sterling: Flatware

with high relief cast bust of Van Dyck, length 9 inches, weight 3.24 Troy ounces, no monogram. Truly one of Antoine Heller's greatest designs, and among Gorham's most sculptural patterns.

There is a file cut (visible from side and reverse only; see fourth photo) which we've pictured in excruciating detail, and some light pitting on the blade which we've mostly polished out and probably will address a bit more, as time allows. Aside from this, the condition is excellent.

a sugar sifter length 7 1/8 inches; weight 1.74 oz. Troy, and a scalloped engraved bowl preserve spoon length 9 inches; weight 2 Troy ounces. Both pieces are marked only "STERLING," (attributed to Wendt) have fully gilt matte finish bowls and are in immaculate condition. We do not recall having seen this pattern before.

Philadelphia circa 1790, a fine, large and massive piece, length 14 inches, length of bowl five inches, weight 6.87 Troy ounces, marked JA struck twice in cut cornered rectangle. There is a minor fill at the edge of the bowl (please see fifth photo) and some scratches on reverse, but excellent overall condition.

This spoon is not monogrammed and does not appear ever to have been, which is most unusual for early American silver.

round upturned end with full front midrib and thirteen-lobed shell drop, length 4 5/8 inches, engraved with initials "D N", weight .32 oz Troy, some annoying abrasions in bowl but very good overall condition.

Faithful readers of our little web page know we never tire of mentioning that Burt was a substantial and by all reports jovial fellow who weighed three hundred and eighty pounds.

length 5 5/8 inches, weight .45 oz. Troy, pointed downturned end with rounded drop and thirteen-lobed shell below, excellent condition, monogrammed "B".

Come ye citizens of Portsmouth and reclaim thy heritage!!

Many of our faithful readers have no doubt been wondering, "Has Cherner resigned, retired, been fired, got tired or perhaps become discouraged with the overall lack of interest in antiques unless they are being chased by strange folks on the telly"? Well, no, we actually took a bit of vacation and mostly stayed out of the shops so have little new to show but this lone Tiffany spoon.

If the hostess gift still lives, then this (and a pound of great coffee) would make a fine one...

dessert spoons, Paris circa 1780, .950 standard, maker's mark LTA (please see fifth photo), total Troy weight 20.75 ounces, some light wear but fine overall condition, with crest as shown though one spoon also has a period script "S" monogram. The forks measure 20.5 and the spoons 19.5 centimetres.

French silver from this period is quite scarce. Price is for the total of eight pieces.

length 8 1/2 inches, monogrammed "Cora 1900," fine condition, weight 3.39 Troy ounces, retailed by R. Mockford of Trumansburg, NY.

Born in Winchester, England (1839), Mockford trained as a miller. He originally established himself in Tompkins County as a baker and flour merchant, then a jewelery pedlar, and finally a retail jeweler. For a peek back in time at how his mill would have looked in 1890, see photo number five.

length 10 1/4 inches, weight 3.5 Troy ounces, superb original condition, monogrammed "B". This is truly a grand piece of silver. Often, fine details of die-struck patterns were embellished by hand chasing, and a light finger over the grapes and tendrils here will reveal to the touch a slight burr still left from the silversmith's tools.

length 9 5/8 inches, weight 4.86 Troy ounces, monogrammed "M" (obverse, Old English), gilt tines with a bit of table wear to gold wash on underside but excellent overall condition.

Most American silver manufacturers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries offered some variant of the Chrysanthemum pattern. As faithful readers of our little web page will know, here is my favorite one of them all...

length 7 1/4 inches, weight 2.69 oz. Troy, monogrammed as shown in photo number three, retailed by Daniel Low, some very minor stains on bowl but excellent overall condition.

Don't get me wrong, we love a nice 1820's piece of S.O.W. ever so much, but you'll never see this amount of detail in a sheaf which some brawny silversmith made by whacking a swage with a big hammer.

luncheon fork and teaspoon, lengths 7 3/4, 7 1/8, 7 1/4 and 6 inches respectively, weight 5.34 oz. Troy, all monogrammed "Ralph Chandler" script obverse. For those who have interest in such matters, Ralph Chandler served as Master Lieutenant on the sloop Vandalia, and saw action on her in the Civil War battle of Port Royal...

length 8 inches, a massive 2.85 oz. Troy each, no monogram, excellent condition.

Scroll down our main catalogue page a bit and you'll find two others, monogrammed and slightly more moderate in price, but equally functional.

length 5 3/4 inches, monogrammed "m" (Old English, obverse), gilt tines, excellent condition, weight 1.26 oz. Troy.

Chrysanthemum patterns were wildly popular in the 1880's. Tiffany, Gorham, Shiebler and other manufacturers all produced them, but this is certainly among the best of these designs.

double struck King's pattern with conforming hand chased double thread on blade and eleven lobed shell drop, length 7.5 inches or if you'd prefer 18.75 cm, weight 1.92 oz. Troy, a few minor scratches as shown in third enlargement but excellent overall condition, scarce.

We could only wish that it had a fine old family name but alas there is no engraving and happily no removal.

length 4 3/4 inches, weight .79 oz. Troy, a few minor scratches on second and third tines from bottom as shown in enlargement but fine overall condition, no monogram.

length 5 3/8 inches, no monogram, exemplary original condition, weight 1.00 oz. Troy. For those who might not be familiar with the design and production of these small sculptures cast in silver, we would commend to you the excellent chapter on same in Carpenter's "Gorham Silver".

length 6 1/4 inches, weight 1.12 oz. Troy, monogrammed (reverse) with three letter conjoined script, excellent condition, retailed by Boston's own late lamented Bigelow Kennard & Co. In the sad event that you've been eating pap with a stainless steel utensil, click your mouse, send us an email, and get something proper...